Stride Property’s $170 million NorthWest Shopping Centre was opened to a large crowd by Upper Harbour MP, the Honourable Paula Bennett.
This retail development is part of Auckland’s $1 billion Northwest Transformation, New Zealand’s largest transformation and investment project aimed at turning the area into a buzzing metropolitan centre over the next 10 years.
The mall, built over the past 18 months by Stride Property, formerly DNZ, has as major players in the area’s transformation New Zealand Retail Property Group in collaboration with Auckland Council.
The council has made a long-term investment in the development of the Westgate Town Centre, with significant growth planned over the next five to 10 years.
The council has provided key core development infrastructure, including new roads, stormwater ponds and an open spaces network to facilitate a coordinated private sector development.
Auckland Council is also providing public amenities with the first completed project being a new town square, Te Pūmanawa, located in the heart of the town centre to support expansion.
The town square is part of the council’s major contribution to the Westgate development and will connect the 26,000sqm NorthWest Shopping Centre to a planned new library and community centre to be located on the western corner of the square.
Auckland Council also has ongoing developments proposed over the next few years including a town park, a skate park, and a bus interchange. Park and ride facilities to provide improved public transport links are also in the planning stage.
The District Plan allows for the construction of approximately 1500 residential units and makes provision for a large area of privately-developed commercial land on either side of Northside Drive, which will bring new employment to the area.
The Buchan Group was appointed by Stride Property to provide architectural design and delivery as well as graphic, branding and signage design for the NorthWest Centre following a previous involvement with the development for more than six years with NZ Retail Property Group.
The NorthWest Shopping Centre has almost 100 retail stores and is being heralded as the next generation of shopping centres in both design and retail offering. The centre will generate up to 700 new jobs, driving employment to complement the region’s population growth.
The opening is part of a four-day launch event that will feature entertainment, prize draws and special retailer promotions.
Stride also confirms that it has settled on the sale of the office property at 51 Corinthian Drive, Albany, Auckland, for $15.15 million.
Stride has previously announced that the NorthWest Shopping Centre project would be funded from a combination of bank facilities and the divestment of non-core assets over the duration of the project. Since announcing its divestment program, Stride has sold properties with a total value of $46.7 million.
